Wychopen2

Titus is crawling at 6 months!!!

2009-11-10T11:27:00.002+08:00

Starting to crawl ...

Mastering the art of crawling ...

Michigan Days

2009-10-03T10:29:00.001+08:00

Titus in Texas

2009-09-19T02:42:00.001+08:00

A few clips of Titus "finding" his voice :o)

2009-09-17T21:48:00.003+08:00

Youth Winter Camp

2009-02-09T19:39:00.002+08:00

The beginning of this month we had the first-time-ever experience to send our youth to winter camp. Winter camp had never been done here in Taiwan, so this was a trial. It was great!! Next year it will have to be longer though. This year it was 3 fun filled days during the youth's Chinese New Year vacation. We had a great group able to go and one first-timer, Thomas. What a blessing it was to give our youth another opportunity to get out of the "normal" flow of life and into a setting centered around the Word!! Praise the Lord for Dave and Cherie Green and their vision for winter camp!

Our Christmas Gift

2009-02-09T19:23:00.006+08:00

This year we decided not to buy each other gifts, but, instead, to take a trip to Taipei. We took off Christmas evening and returned Saturday in time for the youth meeting. It was a short time, but we were able to get a lot in and see many things. We had a BLAST!! :o)

At the Taipei zoo ...

Tad & I at the Taipei 101 building ...

At the 101 ...

Having a dinner treat at Chili's (which we don't have in Kaoshiung) ...

Riding the MRT (subway) ...

At the National Palace Museum ...

At the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial ...

Solider drills - SO neat!

Tad & I before Chiang Kai-Shek ...

Christmas Happenings

2009-02-08T16:01:00.008+08:00

Our Merry Christmas ...

Christmas Decor - sweet & simple

Get Togethers - Hanna's & Delaney's

This year there were more friends to gather with. We spent Christmas morning with the Hanna family (eating brunch, reading the Christmas story, and exchanging gifts), and Christmas afternoon with the Delaney family (eating dinner, playing games, and exchanging gifts).

The whole Christmas group ...

Eating yummy food ...

Caught snacking ...

Activities - Youth

We had a Youth Christmas party at the Delaney's house this year. The Lord blessed, and we had a great turn out!

Our group of girls ...

Our group of guys ...

Tad & I ... having fun leading

The night was complete with food, games, and a gift exchange. Here are some of the gifts that passed by Tad's way ...

Ministries and Outreaches - Church

We had a couple of fellowships at CBC ...

We also had another opportunity to share at the local hospital ...

A Thanksgiving Flash-back

2009-02-08T15:49:00.004+08:00

Our Happy Thanksgiving ...

Our thankful group ...

Enjoying LOTS of good food ...

Yum!!

Walking it off ... :o)

Playing lots of fun games ...

Our service of thanks ...

Apartment Tour

2008-12-29T18:52:00.006+08:00

Here's our "new" apartment. It's about 2 blocks away from the church, the Hanna's apt, the Delaney's apt, and the MRT station. Plus, we have many convenient things in our small neighborhood - tea shops, restaurants, grocery stores, clothing store, shoe store, etc. The Lord truly blessed and abundantly provided when He allowed us to rent this apartment. We have a young couple (not too much older than us) as your landowners. They are SO nice. She is also expecting her first child, and is about 2 months behind me. Also, the rent is unbelievable - Praise the LORD! So, whenever you all are ready, you can come visit! :o)

Exercise room (with a meeting room/ library upstairs)

Our courtyard area

Our fountain fish pond (we "donated" a few - haha!)

Play ground - Ben & Carissa, you guys can head on over ... I know the boys would love this. We also have a park across the road from our apartment.

This is one of the views looking down from our 16th floor

Office - our second bedroom

Our bedroom (notice the "king" size bed ... 2 twins pushed together)

Bathroom

Kitchen - no, we have no oven, but we do have a fridge (it just doesn't fit in here)

Porch area - also our laundry room (we have a washer, but no dryer)

Half of our living room (with the best TV we've ever had since being married) :o)

Other half of the living room - gotta love the blue leather couches!

Our front door, shoe closet, and dining room

Our window with the best view ... here is a night view

Our small glimpse of downtown (the Tuntex, 85 story building in view)

One of the many beautiful sunsets we've seen. The sun is setting over the ocean, and also our neighborhood is pictured here.

Xiao Liou Chio

2008-12-09T13:28:00.005+08:00

A few weeks back, Tad and I took a weekend vacation to one of the many smaller islands surrounding Taiwan. This one is called Xiao Liou Chio. We hopped a bus after our language school and took the following day off, so we could stay the night (enjoying 2 days on the island). It was a very short stay, but we had SO much fun and the place was absolutely gorgeous!! We hope we can go back again some time in the future.

Tad & I at the docks getting ready to board the ferry

Our first stop - the beach :o)

Tad - enjoying the view and trying to catch glimpses of the fish

Shell collecting

Beautiful sunset!!!

The grounds where we stayed

Snorkeling (my first time in a wet suit)

This island is a reef island, as seen by the shore line.
There were SO many neat sights under the water!!

One of the many small, narrow roads on the island - complete with restaurants, souvenir shops, tea shops, and even a 7-11! :o)

The ferry

Vase Rock - one of the many neat tourist sites

Our mode of transportation while on the island was by scooter - here we are touring the island

Tad and I enjoying our time and the beautiful scenery

One of the many nature walks we could go on - here Tad is standing in one of the caves/ crevasses

The road with rocks and trees canopying it

Our guide for the duration of our stay

A few "friends" we met while waiting to board the ferry for our return trip (it was a wonderful time to put our Chinese into practice)

A Weekend Visit

2008-12-04T15:40:00.003+08:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had the privilege to go up north to Taizhong to help in a church Sunday night(Tad was able to preach), and Monday evening was a missionary fellowship. Between the times of ministry, both Tad and I were able to enjoy some good time of fellowship with other missionaries. While Tad was able to enjoy a wonderful morning of golf, I was able to spend some great time with Cherie Green and her kids. We both had a GREAT weekend, and hope to get back up to spend time with them again soon!

The happy clan ... Tad, 2 Japanese missionary pastors, and 2 American missionary pastors

Tad and Dave Green

Our first ride on the High Speed Rail

Youth, Church, and Ministry Update

2008-11-20T15:38:00.005+08:00

Much has happened since writing last time ... one of the major changes is that Pastor Matt Hanna and his family have returned to Taiwan, taking back the role of leading the Taiwanese congregation at Cornerstone Baptist Church. This has been a huge blessing to Tad and I as we are now able to concentrate on ministering to the youth. This also opens the door up for us to really focus on the language. We started attending a language institute in September. Each semester lasts 3 months, so we have finished our first semester and have "graduated" into our second book. Another change is that we have moved into a new apartment (pictures coming soon). With the return of the Hanna family, it created a need to move house, so that they could return to theirs. Although we went through a bit of a discouraging time trying to find the right fit, the Lord opened a door to a fabulous place that really meets our needs - PTL! The Lord continues to lead and to be ever gracious to us.

Lillian, one of our youth, getting baptized. Her mother was just baptized a couple of weeks ago - PTL!!

Elsie was baptized the same day as Lillian. Elsie has been coming to the youth groups as an adult helper and helping out in different ways.

One of our recent youth activities and one of the many crazy games that Tad comes up with. :o)

Baseball outing - with a little sprinkle of rain

We had a great night of fun combining our youth with the Culler's youth group

Youth Update - Camp & Water Activity

2008-08-16T14:47:00.002+08:00

I know I'm SUPER behind, but here is a quick update of what has been happening here with the youth. We've gone to camp - what a turn out!! The Lord blessed exceedingly! We had a number of kids make decisions (I was able to pray with 4 of our girls). The Lord is still at work here purifying, sanctifying, and growing hearts & lives for His glory! We've also had another youth activity - and praise the Lord He stayed the rain! We had a wonderful time of fun and fellowship ... and food! :o) We had a water balloon activity at a nearby park and finished it off with a BBQ and short challenge given by Joel. Joel, thank you for your summer of help here with the youth group - you were a blessing! Have a great year at MBBC!

We are excited for another year to work with the youth here in Taiwan at CBC. This next year we will be responsible for heading up camp ... we would appreciate your prayers as planning is already in process.

July VBS update

2008-07-23T11:53:00.004+08:00

Our Olympic themed VBS - Run the Race ...

We hit the ground running when we returned here to Taiwan. One of the first things we had to get ready for was our VBS week, which was the first week of July. God blessed our week tremendously! We had kids numbering in the 50's each day, which was just about perfect for our building to handle! We also had opportunities to make contacts with many parents, saw a handful of kids make decisions and accept Christ as Savior, and have seen a number return to our weekly services (i.e. Sunday School).

Emily (single Taiwanese missionary), teaching the Bible story using the wordless book colors.

Our VBS group ...

Game time ... Saturday we had a "Carnival Day" where each level of the church had different game stations for the different groups of kids.

Tad in some skits during the English teaching time ...

Jerry's game station. Jerry also did the missionary story - Eric Liddell.

Snack time and time for us to make contact with parents, as well as getting to know the kids.

Craft time ...

Thank you for your prayers.

3rd Anniversary

2008-07-21T10:56:00.004+08:00

Can you believe it?? It's been 3 yeas already! What wonderful times. This was our second time to celebrate it in Taiwan. This time we treated ourselves to lunch at TGI Friday's and afterwards went to a zoo. I loved it! To be honest, I love any zoo or aquarium! It was a super hot day, but the zoo wasn't very busy and we had a lot of fun. :o)

Our yummy desert - yes, we splurged :o)

Lunch at TGI's

In the open bird sanctuary. There weren't any cages, you are allowed to walk through it all on board walks - very neat!

Tad trying to amuse himself by interacting with the animals any way he could. :o)

At the zoo

Playing with the hippos - one of the best things all day!

Tad posed with the monkey for good memories. Needless to say, we had a fun time at the monkey cage - they went crazy! :o)

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Tad playing with and picking up all the snails

2008-07-05T19:02:00.003+08:00

Well, as I've mentioned, we are back in Taiwan, and I think we're finally over jet lag. :o) It's fun to be back in the groove of things and be back with good friends, but it's always hard to say goodbye and leave other loved ones behind. Here are a few snapshots of us having fun early in the morning at the Taipei airport. Praise the Lord we had good flights and safety traveling.

The evening we got in, we went over the the Culler's house (fellow missionaries) for a little get together with a few other families. That night, I was able to see my first live snake here in Taiwan - mom, you'd have loved it!!!! :o)

Here we all are playing cards and having a great time.

The following day we looked at an apartment (as we need to find a new one before September), and were able to go out to eat with our good friends, the Jiangs (and have some yummy food!!!)

US Travels: Time with Family & Friends

2008-07-03T15:46:00.002+08:00

Well, our 2 month "furlough" flew by and we are once again back in Taiwan. I'd like to fill you all in and catch you all up with the wonderful time we had in the states. I'll start with the next thing after San Fransisco ...
After we left Phil and Rachel, we headed to MBBC for Rayn's graduation, from there it's a blur! :o) We were able to go to about 12 different church to present the ministry or speak to youth or speak in school chapels. I was able to speak at a bridal shower and at a mother- daughter dinner. We had great opportunities to see our families and a number of good friends. We praise the Lord for the safe journey He gave and for the many blessings He gave as we spent time with loved ones.

San Fransisco - Part 2

2008-06-04T23:20:00.004+08:00

Here is the second half of our stay in San Fransisco with Phil and Rachel Bennicoff. We had a blast and they really helped us get over jet-lag, as we stayed hopping with fun things to do. August 2009 here we come!! :o)

Alcatraz

Ferry ride to "the Rock"

On our audio tour

AT&T Park - Giant vs. Rockies game

The windiest road

Trolley

San Fransisco - Part 1

2008-05-23T23:59:00.004+08:00

As most of you know, we are back in the states for a short visit. The main reason for our return was to apply for a resident visa. PRAISE THE LORD! - we were just approved, so now you all can pray that we can find a good deal on tickets! :o) The other reasons were to visit churches, family, and friends. We arrived on US soil on April 24th in San Fransisco. We were able to spend about 5 days with some of our close friends, Phil and Rachel Bennicoff. We had a GREAT time!! While out there we were also able to see Tad's youngest brother, Tyler, who is in the Navy and was able to go on leave.

The Golden Gate Bridge

Tyler, Tad, and Hannah

Rachel and Hannah

Phil and Rachel

One of the many people doing tricks and acts to make some money ... people like the "bush man" ;op

Pier 39

The sea lions

Tyler, Tad, and Hannah at church Sunday AM

Casey and Tyler with the "Navy man"

Chinatown

Dragon dance

Familiar Places in a Not so Familiar Surrounding

2008-05-22T00:12:00.002+08:00

Since we have been back in the states, many people are surprised when I tell them of all the different "familiar" places we have in Taiwan. People just don't seem to comprehend that it IS a very westernized FIRST world country. We have many convenient places, and have learned to love many new "native" places.
I've also had people ask about grocery shopping. Most of the items I buy do have Chinese characters on them, but many times they also have English on them or are a familiar enough brand for me to know what it is. I still have a number of things that I cannot get there though, but we make do! :o)

Not to mention that we have Subway, Domino's Pizza, just received a Coldstone and Burger King, and we have MANY name brand clothing stores in the malls and surrounding shops.

Update on the Youth Group

2008-04-17T20:57:00.005+08:00

The following pictures show the last youth activity we had with our youth before we left for a short trip to the states. We wanted to do something out of the ordinary, that would be cheap yet still extremely fun. Well, we just had an MRT system open up in Kaohsiung and for the first month it was free travel. We decided to take advantage of that so we took our youth to a trip a few stops up to a sugar factory.We looked with the other thousands of people at the sugar factory and all the different stands they had. Then, we traveled back up the tracks to McDonald's. We ate dinner and bought an ice cream cone for each of the youth, and then ended up back at the church. We had a great time mingling! :o)

A snapshopt of the crowd

Tad & Joseph

Some of the girls inside the factory

Sitting and waiting for the next MRT

Getting ready to board

Dinner at McDonald's

These are the promised pictures of our all day youth day at CBC.

Whose your neighbor?

Newspaper dress up - ancient Chinese warriors

Duct-tape relay

Eating a donut from a stick & string

Shoe exchange

Service

Please be in prayer for the Delaney's as they take over the youth and the ministry in Taiwan while we are here in the states.

Fun Foods

2008-03-25T18:46:00.002+08:00

Cow tongue . . . a Taiwanese specialty. We were very nervous about this one. It was given as a gift, so, naturally, you’re expected to eat it. Come to find out it’s a type of flaky pastry with a slightly doughy center and is very good. We’ve had them plain and with a flavored cream cheese spread. Yum, yum!!!

We also received 2 cases of sushi from a family in the church. They made a couple of yummy meals. :o)

Happy Birthday to Tad!

2008-02-22T15:51:00.003+08:00

Tad is 25 today (I know - unbelievable!!). I thought those of you back in the states might miss seeing him, so this one's for you ... :o)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAD!!

Youth Hike

2008-02-22T15:26:00.004+08:00

A few weeks ago, we had about 8 of our teens willing to go with us to join in another church's all day youth day. The main event on the schedule the day we went was hiking! I thought it was great - after being in the city so long it was SO nice to get out and enjoy the trails through the woods. Here are some the sights ...

Gathering at the beginning of the trails getting our "game plan" and getting into groups.

The trails ...

There were so many bamboo clusters scattered throughout the woods (something I'm not accustomed to seeing).

One the "sights" along the way ...

Hiking the trails ...

2 of our boys, Leo and Carl, had an abundance of energy and decided to do some extra climbing. :o)

Our girls - Susannah, Julia, Ester, and Stacy

Some the guys having a great time. :o)

A view of the city ...

I hope to be able to share our youth day here at Cornerstone very soon. I'm waiting on the pictures.

Christmas

2008-02-19T18:12:00.004+08:00

Quite obviously I don't keep everyone updated very well ~ SORRY! I am going to try to get a few new posts up this week to tell you all of some of the things that have been going on around here lately.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas get together. We had a wonderful day (even though we were away from family in the States). We were able to meet with our "new family" here in Taiwan. Tad and I celebrated our Christmas together in the morning and in the afternoon we went over to the Delaney's house for the remainder of the day. I was able to cook my very first turkey for dinner ... Yum, yum!! :o) (thankfully it turned out very well!) We had a great day and are so thankful for the new friendships the Lord has brought us into.

We thought of family throughout the holidays ... here are our family photos with all the Christmas cards that were sent our way.

Our "Christmas Lizard" - taking care of all the bugs in the house.

The Delaney girls (Susannah and Julia) and I ... our craft gift

Here is my very first beautiful, delicious looking turkey :o)

Our greatest surprise ... gifts from home!! When we arrived at the house, the Delaney's kept saying we should open our stockings. At the first glance under the tree I exploded with excitement as I saw a very familiar sight ... mom's handmade stockings. Thankfully I didn't start crying (although it was an emotional moment). What a wonderful surprise!

December's Youth Outing

2007-12-19T09:46:00.000+08:00

This is our latest outing with our youth group. The purpose of it was to pass out fliers for our Christmas program and to have a fun time of fellowship to follow. We were successful on all counts! :o) First we met at the church. The foreigners learned a phrase which would enable them to give the flier to someone and invite them to our program. Then we divided up into 4 teams, so each team could target a different area of town. Next we prayed and hit the road, excited to pass out our invitations. Each group did a wonderful job and passed out all the fliers that were given. We are so excited to see how the Lord will bless for our Christmas concert. If you think to pray for it, our program will be held Saturday the 22nd at 7:30pm (you can also pray for me - I'm singing in it in Chinese - YIKES!). After passing out the fliers we all gathered together again at the Delaney's home for a fun night of fellowship. We played games, made pizzas, the girls made cookies (sort of), and we had a great time to just hang out with each other. The Lord has blessed us with a great 6 months with our youth and are very excited to see growth in them!

Here are the girls making cookies - Stacie, Gloria, and Susannah

The other bunch of girls mixing up some cookies - Ruth, Teresa, and Esther

Here are the boys and their pizzas - Jay, Daniel, Tad, Jackie, and Josh

The girls (and Stanley) making thier pizzas - Gloria, Stanley, Teresa, Elizabeth, Julia, and Esther

Here was the most unique pizza of the night - topped with oranges - made by Leo

Here are the boys -
Bottom (left to right): Jackie, Daniel, Tad, and Leo
Middle: Jay, Josh, and Carl
Top: Harry

Here are the girls -
Back (left to right): Gloria, Susannah, me, Teresa, Stacie, and Esther
Front: Lydia, Lillian, Esther, Elizabeth, Julia, and Ruth

Wo de jia

2007-12-17T17:36:00.000+08:00

Wo de jia ... our house. Let me take you around our new house. We are on the 3rd floor in a 12 story apartment building. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It is both nicer and bigger than our last home (the north wood trailer). :o) We have met a couple of our neighbors and have daily contact with our “guard lady”. We only live 2 blocks from the church – great walking distance! It takes about 5 minutes to get to the church and we take multiple trips there a day. We don’t have much of a view, but enjoy the occasional peek out the windows (particularly the bedroom). That is the ‘perch’ that I view the stray dogs that are always around, always barking, and always chasing each other around. We have been able to see construction process out the bedroom window and from the porch. I’m sure it will be pretty big scene changes for the Hanna’s. We are so thankful for the blessing it is to be here and to be so well provided for – especially in our lodging!

Thanksgiving Love Feast at Conerstone

2007-12-06T20:44:00.000+08:00

We were finally able to experience our first Love Feast at Conerstone. I didn't have to spend the day in the Emergency room with Tad like the last scheduled Love Feast. :o) Just a quick explanation ... Love Feast is a direct Biblical translation(what 'good' Baptists call a Potluck). We had a great time of food, fellowship, and more food. It was a great time to spend with different members of the church just talking and having a good time. Nothing like having two Thanksgiving meals, one right after the other. :o) We look forward to our next Love Feast.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2007-11-29T12:56:00.000+08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Taiwan (even though it was away from family). We had the opportunity to get together with 3 other missionary families, 2 single missionaries, and an American family here teaching English. There were 21 of us in all. We had an abundance of delicious food and a great time of praising the Lord together. We are so thankful and so blessed to have such wonderful, godly friends.

I'm so thankful for the little things that made it feel like Thanksgiving.

I loved the cute little name turkeys! :o)

After we ate, we had a time where we gather together to sing and give praise to God. It was really neat to sing as a group. There were also a few specials. We also had a Bible story reading done by Mark Lehman. Then we ended by giving testimonies of thanks.

After eating and singing, we broke up into a couple different groups. Most of the guys went to a nearby field and played flag football. They had a blast (and no one was hurt - too badly! :o) Then the ladies went for a walk around the neighborhood. It was beautiful and we had a great time chatting as we walked. We were able to meet a few of the neighbors. :o)

Then we got back together and played a few different group games. We ended the night with playing a huge group game of Balderdash.

But not before the food was busted out again and warmed back up for another snack.

Hong Kong - VISA travel

2007-11-03T15:10:00.000+08:00

Due to our visa requirements, we must leave the country every 3 months. Our visa is a 60 day stay, and then (before that time expires) we go to the tourist office to get a 30 day extension. This allows us a 3 month stay, and hence, a longer time between travels and less expense. We praise the Lord for allowing us 2 smooth extensions thus far! We wish we didn't need to spend the money on travel, but we also enjoy the opportunity to see other places. Our first exit was to Hong Kong. It was one of the cheapest travel excursions we could find. We had a GREAT time! We were limited on our stay, but tried to pack as much into the short stay that we could. :o) We couldn't depart until after our Wednesday night prayer meeting and my speaking engagement at another church for a ladies meeting, and we needed to return for our Saturday night youth meeting. That meant we had from Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon to do as much as we could! :o) We packed as light as possible to make our short stay and our days out an easy travel (as we did most things on foot). We each took a half packed back-pack, so we could bring back anything we decided to buy there and so we could have a light pack to walk with Saturday after we had to check out of our hotel.

On our arrival, we headed to our first stop. It wasn't our hotel room, but to Victoria's Peak. This was an amazing over-look of the city of Hong Kong. Then we found our hotel and checked in. The next morning we got up early to get ready and to get to our first destination. We headed to Repulse Bay. We jumped a bus and were on our way. We enjoyed our time looking around and admiring the beautiful (and relaxing) scenery. Then we went over to a nearby temple, which is always very sad to see a religion and gods that offer no hope. We walked around the area for a while, went to a nearby market, ate lunch, and hopped back on a bus for our return trip. The rest of the evening and the following day were seeing the sites of the surrounding area and going to more markets. We were able to work on our bargaining skills while we were there. :o) We had hoped to visit other ministries when we traveled, but this came upon us so quickly and we had no contact information for anyone there. If we are able to return we now have a contact there. We hope to visit another ministry the next time we have to leave. We thank you again for all those praying on our behalf!

Hotpockets :o)

2007-10-10T17:04:00.001+08:00

To those out there that were wondering if Taiwan had Hotpockets ... you know who you are. :o) Here are a couple pictures of the Taiwanese Hotpocket (actually called Beef or Chicken Bakes). No, they are not microwaved too hot – b/c Tad isn’t the one heating them up. Haha!! They are VERY good and we have made a quick meal of them a couple times now.

Tainan

2007-09-27T17:24:00.001+08:00

Having sun after 3 weeks of rain is wonderful. It’s even better when you’re able to go out and enjoy it. That’s exactly what we did. We had one beautiful sunny day two days before the third typhoon was predicted to hit, so we went out site seeing. Sam, our translator from church, had a free day and asked if we would go to lunch with him. He said he’d take us site seeing along the way. We were able to go to Tainan, although we were going to go somewhere else, but accidentally took a wrong turn. We went to a very nice, unique restaurant for lunch. Then he took us to a couple fort remains in the area. He was a great “tour guide”, as his specialty is history. ;o) His degrees are in Taiwanese/ Chinese history and Politics. It was a very enjoyable day out in the sun. :o)

Small Blessings from the Lord

2007-09-22T21:53:00.000+08:00

The other day, after going to the fresh market, we came out to a beautiful double rainbow. Everyone looked at us weird until they realized we were looking at a rainbow, and then they too would stop, take pictures, and admire the site. The next night, we talked with some people at Wednesday night prayer meeting about the wonderful promise the Lord made to us (Gen 9: 12-17). We were saying how thankful we are for that promise even though the world is so wicked and undeserving of being preserved.

Mountaintop Baptist Church Youth Rally

2007-09-07T14:47:00.000+08:00

A couple weekends ago, we were able to attend a neighboring church’s 2 day youth rally. Only one of our teens, Teresa, was able to go with us, but we had a great time! At least, that is, when we finally got there! :o) The first day we had a bit of a struggle with directions. We arrived about a hour and a half late. :o( The second day we had no problems! :o) It was a great couple of days. There was a good attendance and the gospel was clearly presented. Many were church kids, but some were not. Both Tad and I were able to make a couple new friends. Tad was able to bond with Neil, the MK, and I was able to befriend Amy, one of the teen girls. We played many fun and interesting games, had a couple skits, a cook out, and A LOT of fun!!! Tad and I have really enjoyed getting to know this fellow laboring missionary family, the Cullers. Continue to pray for the youth here in Taiwan!

One of the games was feeling what the frog ate with a blind-fold on

One of the teens feeling

A group game for the guys ... standing together without linking arms (the girls did this as well)

Another game ... eating a donut off a stick

Tad going at it with Neil Cullers as his partner

Me getting involved too with Teresa (our teen) as my partener

We also had a cookout with everyone the last day

Of course they do everything with chopsticks ;o)

The girl in the red shirt is Amy. I was able to talk with her and get to know her. She is burdened for her unsaved grandma. Please pray that she would be able to talk with her grandma and share the gospel with her.

The Hanna Family - Missionaries to Kaohsiung, Taiwan

2007-08-30T09:26:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I realize I’m doing things a little out of order; this post should have been our very first post on Taiwan. Oops! “Better late than never”, as the saying goes . . .
I’d like to quickly share with you the ‘story’ behind our decision of coming to Taiwan and to introduce you to the Hanna family, the missionaries we came here to help.
You may be wondering, how in the world did we get to Taiwan? A plane, of course!! :o) Alright, just kidding. Tad just finished his Master’s at NBBC this past year (May 2007), and we were seeking the Lord as to what His will would be for our next ‘page’ in life. We both have been lead towards missions, and within the last couple of years have been leaning towards the Asian part of the world. In 2004, when we were still in the dating stage, Tad went to China to teach English as a second language (ESL). After some consideration this past year, we decided to sign up with NBBC’s Team China to team-teach ESL for 6 weeks this summer. We put our names on the list and started attending meetings, not knowing the plans the Lord was yet to unveil. On a personal note, obviously we know the Lord’s timing is perfect and it truly is! Although Tad was excited about going (since he’s done it all before), I, on the other hand, was a bit nervous even hesitant. I had never done this before and therefore was stepping out into the ‘unknown’. Yet the Lord did give me a peace. Thanksgiving break came and we mentioned to our families what we were planning to do this coming summer, 2007. Once we returned from break, we knew we needed to start getting letters ready, passports in line and everything in order to finalize our plans for going to China to teach. About a week after returning, we were told of another ministry opportunity. Dr. Lamansky took a lunch hour with us to explain the need and the opportunity of going to Taiwan. We were almost immediately taken with the idea, but decided to go into a season of prayer before making a very big decision such as this. After talking with each other and spending time in prayer, we went to talk with Team China about the change and with Dr. Lamansky about the acceptance. I really believe that the Lord used the decision for Team China to prepare us (at least me) for this decision of going to Taiwan. Then the fun began! We had MUCH to do in a VERY short time! We had to apply with Baptist Mid Missions, send prayer letters, raise support, and have much contact with the Hanna’s to ask all the questions we had. The Lord’s hand in everything was SO evident. He was so comforting and gracious. He perfectly orchestrated everything. We took the month of May to go on deputation and visit churches (it was really the only time we had with Tad finishing school). Again, doors were opened and we were able to be at a different church nearly every Sunday and Wednesday as we traveled from Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas. With the Lord bringing in all our finances, the day finally came that we had the ‘go ahead’ and were off for Taiwan. We left June 5th, arrived June 7th, and had exactly 7 days with the Hanna’s before they headed back to the US for furlough. Yikes! :o) We had a great 7 days with them. Yes, they were busy and packed with learning and being shown around, but it was a wonderful time getting to know these godly people. We both wish we had more time with them! We’ve been here about 3 months and have loved it. It’s been such a blessing to be a part of their ministry here in Taiwan!

Back row: Rose, Beth, Dolly Wong
Front row: Luke, Mr. Hanna, Mrs. Hanna

Ghost Month & Ghost Festival

2007-08-28T17:43:00.001+08:00

Well, the month of August is considered Ghost month here in Taiwan. Therefore, it’s a month dedicated to ancestor worship. The Taiwanese believe that everyone at death becomes a ghost or spirit. These spirits become either ancestors or “hungry ghosts”, hence ghost month. The ghosts are those that have not been properly cared for by their living families and are therefore destined to haunt the living. The month’s “festivities” start on the first day of the seventh lunar month when 'Open Day' in hell is held. Supposedly, the gates to the underworld are opened and the spirits are allowed to cross over into the living world. During this month, ghosts are honored and appeased as they are treated as “guests”. Families regularly sacrifice throughout the year, but do more often during this month. You will see incense offered, food dedicated, and hell money burned. About halfway through the month a large banquet is prepared and offered as sacrifices. We didn’t really see this in action, but there was a lot of extra sacrificing going on. Thankfully, there was A LOT of rain this month so that cut back the sacrificing quite a bit. We were told by some of the church members that during this month those who participate and believe this have a list of do’s and don’ts. Many things are advised not to do, such as the following: weddings, giving birth, making special plans, traveling, business deals/ outings, purchasing things like cars, homes, etc. Some of the things I read not to do were things like – whistling (as it will attract dead spirits to you and your house), talking ill of the dead, swimming (as the spirits can easily drowned you), walking by riverbanks (spirits can easily steal living spirits there), and adding to the dead by burying the dead. There are many weird superstitions. Then, on the 30th of the month, on ‘Closing Day’, the gates of hell are closed again and the ghosts return to the other side.
It’s very sad to see the devotion to sacrificing and the rooted beliefs they have in this worship. It’s actually very interesting … there is a business right next to the church that regularly performs sacrifices. Many of the pictures below are that I took of them on Ghost Festival day (Monday). Pray for us that we may have an opportunity to witness to them. We cannot communicate well with them, due to the language barrier, but we hope to find a way – even a simple tract being given.

Our Afternoon Out

2007-08-04T18:24:00.000+08:00

Sorry that it's been so long since I've posted! We have been pretty busy, especially Tad, so I haven't had time or access to the computer. I hope to get a number of posts up soon because I have quite a few things to share - be patient with me!!
These pictures are about 2 weeks old. We needed to go the the grocery store and we were able to take an afternoon to drive around and do a little bit of site-seeing on the way. The first few pictures are just sights along the way to finding the Tuntex tower. You can see it from so far away, but it's a little difficult to find how to get up to it. Alas, we made it! :o) Although Tad hates heights, he went up with me to the 75th floor to see great scenes of Kaohsuing City. The expanse of the city is so incredible!! It's daunting to see the number of buildings, to imagine the thousands of people out there, and to grasp the truth that so many of them need the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ! We enjoyed looking out on the city and the harbor. After leaving the Tuntex tower we sat in a park across the road and watched a water fountain synchronized to music. I had a lot of fun watching it and wished I could go out and run through it! (It's SO hot and humid here - it's in the 90's and usually about 90% humidity!! yuck!) After we drove around a little more we passed a mall - the Dream Mall. We have had a couple ladies in the church mention the mall to us, so we decided to check it out. For you shoppers out there, this would be your dream!! It is a 9 story mall with countless stores. It was unbelievable!! We walked around a couple of the floors and then decided to go do what we started out to do - go grocery shopping at CostCo. We can share more pictures of the Dream Mall at a later date. We hope to go back sometime to walk around. We had a very enjoyable afternoon together. :o)

Hospital Visit and Doing Some Site-Seeing

2007-07-21T15:59:00.000+08:00

Ok, just so no one gets alarmed, the visit wasn't for either one of us. Tad has not been taking anymore flying leaps out of any trees. :o) There are not many trees where we live, and most of the ones around us aren't very tall.
A few days ago Tad and I were able to make a hospital visit with one of the ladies, Jean, from the church. Jean is a college instructor at the nearby foreign language college. She teaches English. Her husband, Sam, translates the Sunday morning sermons for Tad. When I speak at the ladies group, Jean will be my translator. ;o) She has become a dear and close friend. She has been SO helpful and considerate to both Tad and I!!!
Anyway, we were able to go with her to visit one of her students that just went through surgery. From that trip we were able to meet a number of her students. We enjoyed our time talking with them. If you think to, you can pray for Edison (he had the surgery and is recovering very well), Brittany, Penny, Anabelle, Ann, Amy, and others. We would love to see them come out to church!
While we were out we did a little site-seeing. We went to a neighboring hotel from the hospital - the famous Grand Hotel. Tad and I had a lot of fun looking at things and fellowshipping with Jean. :o)

Youth Camp - Cornerstone Baptist Church, Taiwan

2007-07-13T20:53:00.001+08:00

We had a real good week in central Taiwan at Youth Camp. The camp ground was located in Puli. We were able to bring 8 kids. Most of them were church kids, save one. I think most of them were saved, but there were three boys that we are a bit unsure of. You can pray for Jackie, Jay, and CP.
The preacher was Erik Sanders. He and his group traveled from Seattle to come and help for this camp. Their church supports one of the missionary families here in Taiwan and through them planned their missions trip. He did a great job at presenting and explaining the Gospel and preached through the story of Jonah about God's will for our life. He had only preached through a translator one other time, but did a real good job this week.
As you will see in the pictures, the grounds were absolutely beautiful! We played some games there and some at a nearby school. It was a bit difficult as the camp was built on the side of the mountain, so there wasn't much room for an open field. The camp was also across the street from a lake. Our group took a number of walks around it.
Now I grew up going to a "rustic" camp, but I do believe this one topped it. We had a number of "friends" visit us in our room. :o) The first night we found and killed 2 very large spiders. The next night it was a huge cockroach and a couple small ones, and the following night there were a number of small cockroaches (including one found on my pillow and one in my suitcase). Besides all the fun of the bugs and lizards and ruff lodging we had a very good time. There wasn't any AC and we were quite active outside with games, etc., so we stayed warm and sweaty all week. :o) It was great though.
I was able to take a couple walks with the girls around the lake and on the last night had a "noodle party" with them. Tad was able to take the group of guys out paddle boating and had a real fun time with them. We also sang a special in Chinese with our group, "People Need the Lord", in the last evening service. We had a great time meeting new people (a number of missionaries here on the island) and getting to know our group better. Please pray for us on Saturday morning (it will be in the evening here) as we have youth group and continue to teach and train our youth. We hope to help them grow closer to the Lord.

2 Years of "Wedded Bliss" :o)

2007-06-30T18:50:00.001+08:00

June 25th, the mark of another year gone by being married to Tad Wychopen. This year he went all out and took me to Taiwan for our anniversary!!!! ;o) It has been a great two years. The Lord has taught us much and continues to grow us closer. We were able to go see a few sights and go out for a nice dinner. We had a good evening together. . .

A gift from a lady, Selina, in the church. Included was a cake, zong zi (corn dumblings), green bean soup (VERY sweet!), and a drawing form her daughter.:o)

Heart Cake . . .

Another gift from another lady, Jean, in the church. This is a ticket to go to the Tuntex tower (85th floor - viewing deck)

We went to IKEA and did a little shopping/ looking around

Ate dinner at Outback Steak House and had a very nice view of the Love River

We took a short walk down by Love River

Happy Anniversary my love!!

Attending the Boat Races

2007-06-29T13:15:00.000+08:00

Sorry it's been awhile since the last post! Tad has been very busy with studying and preparing his sermons, so I haven't been able to get on the computer. Here are the last few pictures I will share of the Dragon Boat Festival. Not only did we "celebrate" the holiday, but we were able to attend it. This was our first time to actually get behind the wheel of a vehicle and drive around. It was also the first time we went anywhere without the the Hanna's being with us, so it was a 'big' night!! :o)

On our way to Love River to see the boat races ...
Tad was pretty nervous to drive (b/c the driving here is CRAZY and INSANE), but he did a really good job!!

Dance and music by the aborigines ...

There were a number of different performers and booths with nicknack's you could buy.

Dragon Statue on the Love River

Mountain Rangers doing a horse performance ...

The Boat Races ...

Boats lit up at night ...

Monk asking for money ...

After walking along the river and watching the boat races we decided to walk around a bit. Here is one of the sidewalks we went down - there are SO many scooters here!!

We went up on a walkway going over the street and took a picture of the beautiful fountains. Oh, and there was our dinner in the back ground - good ole McDonald's! :o)

Me with a rock that says "I love Kaohsiung"

The buildings all lit up at night ...

Celebrating Dragon Boat Festival

2007-06-22T14:27:00.000+08:00

Tuesday, June 19th, was the start of Dragon Boat Festival, one of Taiwan's holidays. The legend behind it is the following:
Qu Yuan served as minister to the Zhou Emperor. A wise and articulate man, he was loved by the common people. He did much to fight against the rampant corruption that plagued the court-- thereby earning the envy and fear of other officials. Therefore, when he urged the emperor to avoid conflict with the Qin Kingdom, the officials pressured the Emperor to have him removed from service. In exile, he traveled, taught and wrote for several years. Hearing that the Zhou had been defeated by the Qin, he fell into despair and threw himself into the Milou River.
As he was so loved by the people, fishermen rushed out in long boats, beating drums to scare the fish away, and throwing zong zi into the water to feed braver fish so that they would not eat Qu Yuan's body.
Grace, a lady in the church, stopped by on Tuesday and brought us zong zi. It is 'sticky' rice, with a filling, wrapped in corn leaves. The fillings can be egg, beans, dates, fruits, sweet potato, walnuts, mushrooms, meat, or a combination of them. They are generally steamed. Yum, yum! :o)

Tad with his lunch and drink

Hannah with her lunch and the newspaper about the Dragon Boat Festival

Tad opening his zong zi

Hannah and zong zi

Zong zi up close . . . complete with egg, peanuts, mushrooms, and pork

Pearl milk tea . . . 'pearl' up close

Tad with pearls in his mouth (some people just never grow up!) :o)

Pearls that were left after drinking all the milk tea. We couldn't believe how many pearls were in there!!!!

The Day of Equinox

2007-06-19T13:27:00.000+08:00

Equinox: refers to the two times each year when the sun crosses the celestial equator resulting in day and night being of equal length.
Well, we experienced that today thanks to a lady in the church. June 19th is the first day of summer and the start of the Dragon Boat Festival. We were able to balance an egg and cause it to stand on end. Not only did we get it to stand on both ends, but we also did it on a slightly slanted sidewalk! It was fun!! :o)

Being brave . . .

2007-06-18T14:39:00.000+08:00

Ok, so I decided to be brave and go get a hair cut today . . .
I, of course, cannot yet speak Chinese and the lady at the salon cannot speak English. I already knew that because I went with Mrs. Hanna last week when she had her hair done. Mrs. Hanna introduced us at that time. So, due to the language barrier, I brought a couple pictures along with me. She didn't seem to like my pictures so she showed me one of her hair books. I tried to pick one close and also kept pointing back to the original picture I had brought. Well, it wasn't what I was expecting, but this is what I got. Yikes!

The picture I brought of the haircut I was hoping to receive . . .

The haircut I received . . .

Our Trip to Taiwan

2007-06-16T13:14:00.000+08:00

Well, to start off, it's has been SO neat to see how the Lord has worked on our behalf and so graciously provided for us. The month of May was dedicated to traveling around and presenting our ministry opportunity for this coming year. God is SO good. We had great travels and great blessings. We were able to visit two churches in Illinois when we went to attend my Grandma's 90th birthday party. Tad and I were also able to spend some quality time with my family. We then had the opportunity to present at my parent's church in Michigan and then we headed to Texas, where we had the chance to go to three churches while we visited with Tad's family.
June 5th was our departure to Taiwan. Our first leg of the flight was for 8:15pm from Chicago O'Hare Airport to San Fransisco. That 4 hour flight went well. We sat next to a man from Hawaii and Tad had an opportunity to spiritually challenge him. We then arrived in San Fransisco and it was there that the reality of leaving finally hit me. Although we were still in the States, we were definitely the minority - we scarcely saw another Caucasian American! We then boarded a HUGE 747 (double-decker) plane. We just so happened to be in the dead middle of the middle (the inner two seats in the four middle seats). Bummer! We did have a good opportunity to talk with the man next to Tad. He was born and raised in Kaohsiung and this was his first time to return in 20 years. That flight was VERY long - 13 hours! Boy was it nice to land again! We arrived in Taipei, Taiwan at 5:30am. There we were able to walk around for a while, write a couple emails announcing our safe arrival, exchange some money, grab a snack, and freshen up a bit. We then board our next and final flight that brought us to our year's destination of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Throughout these blogs I hope to share our 'new life' in Taiwan and the opportunities that the Lord brings our way. We continue to thank and praise Him for what He's doing in us and, Lord willing, through us.

Taipei Airport

Our First Purchase :o)

Kaohsiung

Ok, Ok, We need to update our Blog.

2007-06-15T16:38:00.000+08:00

Now that we are on the other side of the globe, we have had an issue with the blogger settings. Everything shows up in Mandarin Characters. Not Good since we are just now learning the language. I think we may have solved the problem, so now Hannah will be able to keep you all updated. Ok, Hannah wants me to stop typing so she can talk. I never get to have any fun. :(
So much has happened since last checking or doing anything with the blog (obviously). Since then we have been told about helping in a ministry, we've moved from our home of two years up at NBBC in WI, and have, as mentioned above, accepted the ministry opportunity and are now here in Taiwan. We've been able to take a number of pictures since being here and are excited to share those with you all. Now, unfortunately, i must go home and fix dinner for my husband. :o)

Surprise Weekend!

2007-02-16T05:08:00.000+08:00

This past Saturday Tad decided to surprise me. I had no idea where we were going and what we were doing. He gave me a few small tips so I knew how to dress appropriately, etc., but gave no real hints. About 10:30am Saturday a Jeep pulled into our driveway with Keith and Janice Boss in it. They were our travel buddies. I then found out we were going to Houghton, MI - - which really gave me no clues. Once we arrived (almost 3hrs down the road) I saw what we were going to see that day! That weekend was Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival. I had never heard of it before, unfortunately, but it was so neat! The students compete in an ice/snow sculpting competition. They had some of the neatest things!! One, you will see in the slide show, was done by a Christian group that shows the Garden of Eden and the Birth of Christ - - very cool!! The stuff was amazing! After spending a few hours looking at the sculptures and dodging in and out of buildings to warm up :o), we went to eat at Long John Silvers, and then went to a hockey game. We ended our great day stopping at Wendy's for a free frosty before getting home. I had a great day with my husband and with some friends!! That was my "Happy Valentine's"!! :o)

For more info (pictures and the how-to's) go to this site . . . http://www.mtu.edu/carnival/ Very neat!!

Our Wedding Snap-shots

2007-02-02T06:24:00.000+08:00

Speaking of weddings . . .
I told a friend a while back that I would try to get a few of our wedding pictures on here. Well, here they are! :o) These aren't the greatest (our new video camera/ camera was being tested), but they will have to do. The last two pictures are from the reception Tad's church in Texas gave us.

Wedding Photos

2007-02-02T02:39:00.001+08:00

This past month Tad and I had the joy of going to Bryan and Jerelyn's wedding. We had a ton of fun on our "road trip" to PA. The wedding went really well and it was beautiful!! I'm so happy for Bryan and Jerelyn. :o) Here are some snap shots of her shower (here at NBBC) and the wedding. It was so fun to see old friends again!

I'm a WINNER!!!

2007-01-27T04:39:00.001+08:00

So, have you ever had your name randomly selected somewhere and won a prize?? I don't think I ever had, until just recently, that is. Did you get all excited because you won something?? Yeah, me too!! Although, I must say, this was the biggest let down ever!!
Well, when I was home at Thanksgiving my mom and I went out shopping and came across a drawing box at a store, Horrack's. Neither one of us had ever had our names drawn, but we decided to try the whole name drawing thing again. The next day I received a phone call saying I was the winner!! I was pretty excited (because it's a neat store) and my mom was kind'a jealous. :o) We went the following day to pick up my prize. This is what my prize was . . .

Can you believe it?!?!? A "Party Plain Santa" with a retail value of $59.99!!! Amazing! I didn't know if I should have said I didn't want it or ask for money or what! My mom told me right away that she was happy for me - she was just glad that she didn't receive it!! :o) Now I have to figure out what to do with it. I'm not sure if it will go on E-bay or if i should give it as a gift...who knows!! Although now I can say that I have won something.

Thanksgiving

2006-12-13T02:00:00.000+08:00

Now, I know I received a comment about being a once a month blogger (Jen:oP), but I'm seriously going to try and improve!! I realize it's almost Christmas and Thanksgiving seems quite a while ago, but here are pictures from my Thanksgiving. I had a GREAT Thanksgiving. The whole family was there (on my side) and Nate, Tad's brother, was able to join us. It was a lot of fun!
Actually, I was able to go home a week early. I was able to be in a craft show with my mom (may be i'll get some pictures of some of the stuff) and I typed my dad's seminary paper - tons of fun!! Ha! :o) I also was able to see my little nephew for the first time!! So cute! :o) It was a wonderful Thanksgiving!! I love seeing and spending time with family. It was SO nice to see my sister-on-laws again - I've missed them. Anyway, it was great!!

Here's Ethan - getting some snacks from Grandma.

Here's the newest addition to the family - Luke. He was SO much fun! So cute!!! :o)
Here's the family. Ben pulled out his lab top and we were all looking at fun pictures and listening to funny audio clips.
This is my brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Debbie. They live in SC and came up and surprised us a little bit. No one knew for sure if they would make it or not. Actually everyone went to bed, but me because I was waiting for Tad and Nate to get in. I'm so glad they made it!!
This is my brother and sister-in-law, Ben and Carissa with their family - Ethan and Luke.

Texas Deep Sea Fishing

2006-11-18T06:04:00.000+08:00

I don't have any sweet pictures or updates to put on from anything very recent, but I do have some awesome pictures of our fishing trip to Texas at the end of the summer. We were able to go to Texas in August and fish in the Texas International Fishing Tournament. It is a huge tournament that has over 1000 anglers fishing in it. Most of them are fishing to catch the biggest Blue Marlin. Unfortunately, we were not able to catch the biggest Marlin, but we did catch the heaviest Bonito. It was the first time we had ever placed in any category in the tournament, so we were pleased with ourselves. We hope to go back to Texas next year and fish in this awesome tournament. Hannah was not able to fish this time, but she has in the past- and she loves it! The best part of the fishing trip is getting to spend a couple days on the water with my dad, brother, and Hannah. There is nothing like deep sea fishing! It takes a lot of work, but the results are amazing!

I Broke It

2006-11-18T05:04:00.000+08:00

OK, I'm really sorry everyone...I broke our blog. Well, at least I made it harder for Hannah to make changes to the blog from her computer. I was updating the blog to be a "Beta" blog. I figured that it would make things much easier. Unfortunately, Hannah's web browser is having problems accepting this new form. I think the problem will be fixed shortly (shortly could mean a week or possibly a year). I'm sorry that there has not been any recent updates. We will try to be better bloggers in the future. (See even guys admit their mistakes...sometimes)

Our "Family" :o)

2006-10-18T01:12:00.000+08:00

The little "other" in our family is our cat Cocoa. We got her shortly after moving here to Wisconsin and have had many fun times with her. We got her when she was only a few months old and you can see in the pictures how she’s grown. She has quite the personality and intelligence (for a cat). :o) She is loveable, playful, curious, and highly entertaining! She knows how to play fetch, play "bite, bite, scratch", play a form of hide'n'seek, and freeze. She also can chase squirrels and has come in handy with mice. She likes to take rides in the car and is a great traveler (we've brought her to MI with us). Cocoa has been a lot of fun for us!! :o)

(Pictures of when we first brought her home)

(Cocoa with our Pastor at Christmas)

I hope this works

2006-10-17T02:53:00.000+08:00

Hannah and I have finally joined the blogging world. We are trilled beyond belief to have a blog. I have waited all of my life for this opportunity. We look forward to keeping up with all of our friends and family.